This is our third consecutive year where several Otak staff volunteered at the Oregon Food Bank (OFB)! This year we were responsible for packaging elbow macaroni. We had an assembly line of workers who had one or several of the following tasks:

1. moving pasta from a very large container to a more manageable smaller container

2. scooping approximately 2 pounds of pasta into a plastic bag

3. weighing the bag and supplementing additional pasta or removing pasta to ensure the 2-pound limit

4. placing a twisty around the bag

5. placing 11 bags of pasta into a box and sealing the box

6. moving the box to another station where it was weighed to ensure accuracy

At the end of our session we helped box 10,500 pounds of macaroni for distribution! It was a rewarding few hours of our time.

Otakians in UAE decked the office halls last month and celebrated the holidays and New Year with a lunchtime feast. They filled the table with food and filled the air with carols, but, like many holidays, the real action involved presents! They played a type of white elephant gift exchange where players can grab a present from under the tree or steal someone else’s gift. Director, Fares Kekhia, got in the holiday spirit and raffled off two cameras to lucky attendees. It was an exciting end to the year and hopefully the good times will continue in 2012!

Otak’s Vancouver office celebrated a holiday luncheon December 20, which was catered by a local restaurant, Beaches. They had a “crazy holiday sweater” contest that included three categories: the brightest, the tackiest and the most original. Grant Evenhus, Greg Mines and Marilou Davis were the chosen winners! We had a toast to the New Year and recognized everyone for their dedication and hard work. We look forward to a prosperous and happy New Year for our staff, clients and colleagues.

Last week, our crafty Kirkland Otakians sold a beautiful variety of handmade goods at the Otak Holiday Shop. Unique Items for sale included handmade cards and gift tags, cinnamon bun candles, paper white narcissus, sugar scrubs, quilted coasters, delicious jams, hats, fishing rods, and cutting boards made from recycled pallets…staying green.

Thank you to everyone who dropped by and made it a HUGE success! Our vendors sold over $800 worth of items, of which we donated ten percent to our Youth Eastside Services Adopt-A-Family.

Budding plans are developing for next year’s Holiday Shop!

Otak’s Lake Oswego office recently participated in the annual Bike Commute Challenge organized by the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA). This year, 12 riders braved the traffic and elements and biked to work at least once during the month of September. The Otak team logged 79.5 rides (a round trip is 1 ride) for the month and traveled a total of 1,492 miles or about the distance from Portland to Tucson, Arizona. Otak’s ride percentage of 4.9% was several percentage points higher than last year. Using the BTA’s formulas, the Otak team saved 1,462 pounds of CO2 and burned 73,123 calories.

Overall, the challenge included 12,064 riders actively logging trips, and a total of 1,372,667 miles. BTA estimates the effort saved 1,345,213 pounds of CO2. Bike commuting is a great way to get exercise, relieve stress, save money on gas, and reduce your carbon footprint. 

Yesterday, Otakians at the Vancouver office arrived at work to the smell of pancakes and bacon, orange juice, fresh fruit and scrambled eggs. Rich Darland, project manager, treated staff to homemade breakfast as a thank you of their many hours of hard work. “Morale is good and we’re full, happy and busy,” said Marilou Davis, project assistant.

What do Otakians do when the sun finally comes out? They play lots of kickball.

Last month, a few Otak employees formed a team, the Mulletteers, to compete in the charity tournament for Engineers Without Borders. After a full day of friendly competition, the Mulletteers placed second out of 15 teams, and more importantly, helped a great cause ($14,000 was raised).  

Last week, another Otak kickball team, the Grasskickers, won the championship! They secured a spot in the finals after playing a double header and winning both games. Congratulations!

Chris Brandt, a landscape architect in Otak’s Carbondale office, recently won first place in the Land8 Doodle contest. His piece titled “Coffee and Cyclocross” uses spilled coffee as inspiration. Brandt said, “The spilled coffee made me think of riding in the mud.” To check out this masterpiece, along with a few other works of art, please click here.

On Monday, four Otakians, an engineer, architect, surveyor, and network administrator, all rode their motorcycles into the Lake Oswego office. In doing so, they not only enjoyed the morning sunshine, but also helped the Earth. Four motorcycles on the road, instead of fours cars on the road equates to roughly the following (if the motorcycles were ridden to work every day for one week):

• Burned 12 less gallons of gas
• Saved $45 in fuel
• Used two parking stalls instead of four
• Caused significantly less wear and tear on the roads
• 4 more happy people in the world…

This year Otak is turning 30! Our culture is key to our success.

Last Friday, Nawzad Othman, Otak’s CEO/President, spoke at a US naturalization ceremony on Tom McCall Waterfront Park. About 50 people representing 24 countries from around the world took their oath to become naturalized citizens. Nawzad became a US citizen in 1968. He urged the new citizens to become politically active, and reminded them that citizenship comes with responsibilities. “It’s up to you to make it happen,” he told the new citizens.

 
 

A few Otakians participated in Pub Trivia at Players last night for a team building event...

With the opening pitch, Martin hit it out of the park for a "parfait" answer (French word for a type of ice cream that translates to perfect)! Rainman Kilby pulled a "tornado" out of thin air to whirl the team into second place at the half. Unfortunately, we crashed and burned with our lack of knowledge in NASCAR racing, and apparently need to ask for forgiveness for our lack of knowledge in religious studies. But, in true Vegas style, we went all in (gotta go big or stay home) and wagered the maximum points to correctly answer a five-part final bonus question with our resident lushes (DH, Leslie, and Kaitlin); who knew Dan Aykroyd's signature drink includes vodka, Dr. Dre's is congnac, and Danny DeVito's is a Limoncello?!?! With our trivia skills and beginners luck, we were able to pull it out in the clutch for the victory!